Opposition leaders file police complaint against Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma over “Miya” comment
Guwahati: A day after Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma asserted that he “will take sides” and “will not let Miya Muslims take over Assam”, eighteen opposition parties have filed a police complaint at the Dispur police station accusing him of trying to ‘promote enmity’ based on religion and race.
According to a report in The Indian Express, the parties have accused Sarma of “criminal conspiracy” aimed at creating unrest in the state, warning that a “riot-like situation” could ensue unless he is “arrested or restrained.” Bhupen Borah, chief of Assam Congress, alleged that Sarma is provoking communal riots and making inflammatory statements even within the assembly. Borah also indicated that they plan to write about the issue to the President.
This comes amid rising inter-community tensions in Assam, which intensified following the alleged gang rape of a 14-year-old girl in Nagaon district on August 22. Sarma and several of his ministers have termed the incident, in which the accused are Bengali-Muslims, an “attack on the indigenous,” as mentioned by IE.
In response to accusations of partiality, Sarma reaffirmed his stance, stating, "I will take sides. What can you do about it?" The Chief Minister’s remarks included a controversial assertion that he would not permit "Miya Muslims" — a pejorative term for Bengali-speaking Muslims in the state — to dominate Assam. Sarma said, "Why will people from Lower Assam go to Upper Assam? So that Miya Muslims can take over Assam? We won't let it happen."
Sarma has a history of making provocative statements targeting specific religious communities. Last year, he remarked that he would clear Guwahati’s footpaths of “Miya” vegetable vendors. Earlier this month, he accused the University of Science and Technology in Meghalaya (USTM) which is owned by a Bengali-Muslim, of engaging in 'flood jihad,' claiming that the university's hill demolitions for new construction had contributed to waterlogging issues in the capital city.
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Two injuries, one DNF, a DQ as India end messy World Relays campaign
Gaborone (Botswana) (PTI): Amoj Jacob and Ragul Kumar got injured during the men's 4x400m and 4x100 races respectively as India ended their World Athletics Relays campaign in disappointment on the second day of competitions here on Sunday.
The Indian camp had high hopes of making the 2027 World Championships in the men's 4x400m relay but the team did not finish (DNF) the race as Jacob suffered cramps and pulled out of the race after taking the baton from the first leg runner Dharamveer Choudhary. Rajesh Ramesh and Vishal TK were to run in the third and fourth legs.
Those teams which could not qualify for the 2027 Beijing World Championships by reaching the final round of each of the six relay events on Saturday were given another chance in the second qualification round on Sunday.
The top two teams in each of the two heats (in all six relay events) booked the Beijing ticket on Sunday.
India will now have to try and qualify for the World Championships through the Top Lists of the World Athletics, which is a long and tedious process.
In the men's 4x100m race, third leg runner Ragul Kumar fell down the track after failing to hand over the baton inside the exchange zone to fourth leg runner Gurindervir Singh, which clearly showed the lack of coordination among the runners.
Harsh Santosh Raut and Animesh Kujur ran the first two legs.
The Indian quartet was disqualified and Kumar was seen being taken away from the Field of Play with the help of the volunteers.
It was a comedy of errors in the case of the women's 4x100m race, which saw the baton being dropped during an exchange between first leg runner Tamanna and second runner Nithya Gandhe, though the Indians finished the race in 53.09 seconds.
Gandhe started running quite a distance, but after realising that the baton was not in her hand, she turned and ran back to pick it up.
The only silver-lining for the Indian contingent was the national record time in the mixed 4x100m relay race, though the quartet of Ragul Kumar, Nithya Gandhe, Animesh Kujur and Sneha SS finished sixth in heat number two with a time of 41.35 seconds, bettering the previous national mark of 42.30 seconds set in March in Chandigarh.
The mixed 4x400m relay quartet of Theerthesh P Shetty, Kumari Saloni, Nihal William and Rashdeep Kaur ended at fifth in heat number one with a time of 3 minutes and 19.40 seconds.
On Saturday, all the five Indian relay teams had failed to make it to the respective final rounds and thus missed out on the 2027 World Championships berths.
